Beer Review: Rogue - Voodoo Doughnut - Bacon Maple Ale

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, depending on when you are reading this.  Below you will read a story of trials, tribulations, action, and suspense.  Well not really, you will read about beer, and this review covers a beer that Johnny brought to a ride... Rogue's Bacon Maple Ale.  Yup, Bacon and maple all wrapped up into a bottle and served in a glass.....

As you can imagine, the initial smell, well it's bacon and maple smell... Think of a weekend morning, when you wake up to the smell of bacon, or if you are say at the Country Cabin, and you walk in and the first thing you typically smell is bacon.  Well thats what you smelt when you opened the beer, Bacon...

When you took the initial sip of the beer, your first thoughts went to breakfast.... then back to bacon, and maple.  you may think that would be a great idea, try the beer, you may have a different perspective when it's all said and done.

Poured into a cup, you couldn't really see the colour as the glass was opaque, but i could imagine that the beer looked like a beer, or like bacon...

At the end of the day, we had several taste testers, below are some of the comments...

Tyler "It does taste like bacon..."
Bernie "It's like breakfast"
Johnny "I'm Glad thats over"
Mark W "It smells like bacon"
Pinocchio " I wish I were a real boy"

Would I buy a case of this beer: I would not... Unless they came in 1 packs, to other people wanted to try it, but once was enough for me. 

Did it taste good: It did taste like bacon, but not good bacon....

What was your initial thought when you drank the beer:  eggs.... and bacon...   

Was the beer Hoppy: I couldn't really tell... i was more focused on the bacon maple flavor...

Score: 1.0 out of 5

For anyone counting, the word bacon was in the write up 16 times!

Weekend Race Report: Team van go podiums

Date: June 22nd/23rd, 2013
Location: Albion Hills
Weather: Hot Humid and no rain....

This past weekend we had a blast, 2 team van go teams were entered into the 24 hour summer solstice, a 5 person open team 200-249, and a 10 person mixed team.  We had a lot of fun, with Derek not riding his own bike for any laps, Tyler pulling a girl out of some shrubbery, Garnett posting sub 1hr laps, Beer drinking between laps, kids running around playing, just an all around great atmosphere!! A typical team van go atmosphere for sure...

The 5 person team consisted of: Tyler, Tracey, Derek, John, and Garnett
The 10 person team consisted of: Jean, Ashad, Jon, Penny, Dai, Jackie, Sean, Leslie, and Mark.

The race started noon, with Derek leading out the 5 person team, and Mark leading out the 10 person team. Both shot out like rockets, posting great first lap times putting both teams up near the front of the pack.  Derek riding his first borrowed bike from the Specialized booth, you will see a theme...

After the first round of riders finished the laps, the 5 person team was in 3rd, 10 person team sitting 7th.  Originally Chico had the 5 person team in mixed category, but that was to changed to the correct category.

Over the course of the afternoon, the weather stayed very hot and humid, so drinking water was key.  Luckily we did not have major mechanical issues, other than Derek, on his second borrowed bike from Specialized.  His S Works that he borrowed for the remainder of the race, the crank decided it didn't want to stay tight, so he fought it over his lap.

On Tyler's second night lap, he came across a girl who was off the trail on her back, still clipped to her bike. She had better days, cut up bruised and just out of it.  It was around 3am so you can't blame her.  Brought her to the next marshal station, she unfortunately did not finish her lap.

There was one point of the course that everyone hated... the dreaded 5km to go sign... The last 5km were the hardest of the whole lap, mostly up hill... by that point of the lap you were exhausted, and hated your life going up it...

The 5 person team had a ringer, Garnett who was consistently pulling sub 1 hour laps!!   A great guy from Burlington who fit in perfectly. The complete lap worked out to be 18.73km (Based on Tyler's Bike computer), so to post sub 1 hr laps meant you were averaging 19km/hr!!!!

As the 5 person team was in contention for a podium Derek double lapped before sending Garnett out to finish the race off.  Overall everyone stayed in their spot with only the double lap being the only order change.

We have to thank Emily again for the help keeping both the 10 and 5 person teams somewhat in line, making sure people knew who was out, when they were due out.  Only a couple misses at the transfer but nothing crazy...

At the end of the day, the 5 person team completed 23 laps in 24hr 25min.  This time was good enough for the 5 person team to Finish 3rd out of 37 teams!!!!!

The 10 person team completed 18 laps in 23hrs 50 min.  The 10 person team finished with a 10th place finish out of 19 which was a great showing as well!!

Both teams had a great time, met a lot of new people, and everyone seemed to enjoy the day!

Weekend Ride

Date: Saturday June 22nd, 2013
Location: Mansfield - Parking at the main lot
Time: 10am
Weather: Doesnt look like the rain is going to hit til about 3pm

Come on out and enjoy the ride.

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Team Van Go - New Addition Unveiling

Hi All,

If you missed out on the amazing ride last night, the weather was perfect for a tour.  Everyone rode the 6:30 ride, which was a lot of fun.
The end of the ride included the unveiling of the new team van go addition!!!!!  Below are the pictures...

We now are starting to look like a professional team or something... look for the team van go tent coming out at the following events....

24hr Summer Solstice

Bromont Bike trip

Fall 8hr Race

and more to come.....

24hr Summer Solstice

Date: June 22nd - 23rd, 2013
Location: Albion Hills

For anyone around this weekend, come on out and support team van go at the 24hr summer solstice race.

We have campsites 23 and 24.

Come out and enjoy the atmosphere!

27.5" Santa Cruz Heckler

Good Read on the NEW Heckler

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/First-Look-Santa-Cruz-Heckler.html

http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/company/index.php?NewsID=0241

Fall 8 Hour

Date: Saturday September 28th, 2013
Location: Hardwood Hills

http://www.pulseracing.ca/

I know it's early for this, but need to throw the bone out there...
Hopefully for this race we can get a good team van go outing.

There are going to be several different groups entering.

Some in the works include:
4 person male (1 maybe 2 teams)
4 person female (1 team, maybe a second if there is enough interest)
and then there is the solo guys...
There are a few people that are doing the fall 8 hour solo... the thought is that we ride together for the first 4 hours, then the second half, ride at whatever pace you want, or stop and drink beer for the remaining time...

Just put the bug in your ear, think about it, keep the weekend open.  the more people we can get out there the better.

Upcoming Ride Guide

Date: Tuesday June 18th, 2013
Location: Dufferin Forest - Main parking lot
Time: 6:30pm
Fun Touring / Learning Ride
Forecast: Chance of Showers

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Date: Wednesday June 19th, 2013
Location: Mono Cliffs Park
Time: 6pm - Normal loop
Time: 6:30pm - Fun Touring / Learning Ride
Forecast: Partly Cloudy

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Date: Friday June 20th, 2013
Location: Albion Hills
Time: TBD - Contact Tyler
Pre-ride 24hr course.
Meeting at Campsite 23/24 - after setup...

Weekend Ride Report

So Karen, Johnny and Max had a great day at three stages.  

We did a modified loop...warm up trail first, then climbed up through the 3 stages which all seemed more technical than last year, lots more roots and rocks.  Out through the rock garden to the lookout and then headed directly to the "upper parking area" (i.e. "one stage parking lot").  

Rode some of the swoopy trails up top then headed west into the three stages upper loop trails.  Got into some more tight technical trails then headed down to the river on a completely different decent, twisty with a lot of switch backs. Same finish at the end, then a road ride back to the bus.  

Shared a beer, headed to Kamikaze, checked out the new Santa Cruz Bronson Carbon (nice!) then off to Beaver and Bulldog for wings and beer! What a day...doesn't get much better than this.

Weekend Ride

Date: Saturday June 15th, 2013
Location: 3 stages
Parking: Collingwood/Clearview Townline & Pretty River Rd (33/34 Side rd)
Start Time: 10:30am
Loop: The normal ride, up 3 stages, touring through the forest.

After the ride: Beer and Wings at the Beaver and Bulldog

If you need directions, email, text, call, send carrier pigeon, or smoke signal Johnny.
Below map is zoomed into the parking lot.  Didn't think it would work, technology is a crazy crazy thing....



View Larger Map

Product Review: Shimano XT pedals

I haven't done a product review in a while, which is a good thing.  If it ain't broke I don't have to buy a new one, and hence don't need to do a product review.
But midas well do a review on an item that most people use on their bikes... Pedals.... and a seat, but pedals is the review....

The specific pedals are the Shimano XT race clipless pedals.  I've used these pedals the last 2 years, with no issues whatsoever with them.  I do need to knock on wood.....

Like most shimano pedals, it has a very easily adjustable tension screw, done by an allen key, to allow for easier or harder tension to release your foot when you are falling..

The typical application is trail riding, and the pedals have never failed.  Usually its the operator, either not having the tension hard enough to have a foot come out going over a rock or log, but other than that they have performed flawlessly. The pedals have been ridden in a variety of conditions, from Hot dry rides at Dufferin forest, to Snow riding through mono cliffs, to mud at kalopore.

If you are in the market for a new set of pedals. I would recommend the Shimano XT pedals.  They have 2 versions, the Race and the Trail version.  The trail version is identical to the Race, only with larger platforms.

Either way you cannot go wrong with these pedals.

Rating: 4.75 out of 5 (Need room if I come across a better set of pedals, but it is very unlikely)

Upcoming Ride Guide

Date: Monday June 10th, 2013
Cancelled - Too wet....

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Date: Tuesday June 11th, 2013
Location: Dufferin Forest - Main parking lot
Time: 6:30pm
Fun Touring / Learning Ride
Forecast: Chance of Showers

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Date: Wednesday June 12th, 2013
Location: Mono Cliffs Park
Time: 6pm - Normal loop
Time: 6:30pm - Fun Touring / Learning Ride
Forecast: Partly Cloudy

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Date: Friday June 14th, 2013
Location: Albion Hills
Time: 6pm
Secret Training Ride
Forecast: Sunny

Yet another Weekend Ride Option

Date: Sunday June 9th, 2013
Location: Albion Hills
Time: Tentatively 10am
Parking: At the fountain in the park

Current Weather: Cloudy periods, 21C

Another Weekend Ride Option

Date: Saturday June 8 
Time: 11am
Where: Buckwallow
Fee: $10.00
Type of Ride: Single track
Difficulty: Easy to Advanced, your choice
Fitness: light - moderate
Length: 15 KM( it can be a short ride on the double track or a longer ride using all the single track)
Forecast: Sun cloud mix, 20 degrees feeling like 22- this is as of Monday the 3rd of June

Doug and Hayley have organized this ride.  Great place to ride if you haven't been there.
I definitely recommend it for sure!

Upcoming Ride Guide

Date: Monday June 3rd, 2013
Location: Albion Hills
Time: 6pm
Secret Training Ride
Parking - Patterson Rd. and Rail trail crossing

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Date: Tuesday June 4th, 2013
Location: Dufferin Forest
Time: 6:30pm
Fun Touring / Teaching Ride

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Date: Wednesday June 5th, 2013
Location: Mono Cliffs
Time: 6pm - Normal Group Ride
Time: 6:30pm - Fun Touring / Teaching Ride

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Date: Friday June 7th, 2013
Location: Shaws Forest / Toms Forest
Parking: Bass Lake Rd. and 7th Line
Time: 9pm
Night Ride

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Date: Saturday June 8th, 2013
Location: Blue Mountain
Cancelled - due to weather.